To increase the load capacity of axial bearings, a plurality of axial bearings are installed one behind the other positionally. Measures are necessary here to distribute the overall load of the bearing arrangement in as uniform a manner as possible between the individual axial bearings.
One known design for a bearing arrangement for absorbing axial loads is designated as a “tandem bearing”. A plurality of, usually two to four, axial bearings are connected to form a unit in which the plates which sit on the shaft (shaft plates) and the plates which sit in the housing (housing plates) are supported by means of spacer rings arranged between them in each case. A uniform loading of all the sets of rolling bodies is obtained by the runner plates and the cages all being embodied differently than one another so as to give uniform deflection.
It is also known for the runner plates and the cages to be embodied the same, and for the runner plates to be supported axially by means of differently embodied resilient elements.
It is conventional, within a bearing arrangement for absorbing axial loads, to provide the shaft runner plates and the housing runner plates with spring constants that are adapted to one another. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that the runner plates have a non-rectangular cross-section so that they can deflect under axial load. A bearing arrangement of this type is disclosed by German utility model application DE 71 40 687. A bearing arrangement of this type is, however, very complex to produce on account of the non-rectangular design of the runner plates.
According to DE 21 14 698, another possibility, given a plurality of axial roller bearings arranged one behind the other axially, for preventing overloading of the rolling bodies as a result of their single-sided loading is that the housing plates, at their cylindrical circumferential face, and the shaft plate, in its bore, have sufficient clearances that only annular seat faces bear directly against both the shaft seat faces and the housing, the axial height of which is significantly smaller than the height of the runner disks in this region. Disadvantages of said bearing arrangement are both that the runner plates have a non-rectangular cross section and that the abovedescribed clearances are necessary, each of which contribute to the bearing arrangement being more expensive.
The well-known problem in roller bearing technology of edge bearing, in which the rolling bodies only transmit loads over part of their length, accordingly plays a significant role even where a plurality of roller bearings are arranged one behind the other. This is because if this problem is not solved, it leads to overloading both of the rolling bodies and of the associated points in the raceways, which can lead to early failure of the overall roller bearing arrangement. Where a plurality of bearings are arranged one behind the other axially, the abovedescribed attempts to solve said problem are however too complex.